


Rest With Me

by moonflowery



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Harley and Cass are mentioned, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, and i hope you do too, helena is a useless lesbian and dinah is pretty much perfect, helena is hurt and dinah takes care of her, im not sure what im doing but i like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22869697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonflowery/pseuds/moonflowery
Summary: The Birds Of Prey go on a particularly difficult mission that leaves Huntress pretty hurt, Black Canary angry at her, and Renee mad at both of them. But still, Helena's cuts and bruises need to be taken care of, and without questions asked, Dinah accepts the challenge. However, with Helena and Dinah so close together, they might have to finally deal with some feelings they had been avoiding.
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 22
Kudos: 319





	Rest With Me

**Author's Note:**

> warnings include: I've only seen the movie once and know nothing about these characters outside of the movie. but i feel very gay and very in love with them

The day they all met, they had kicked the collective ass of dozens and dozens of men. It was fair to say that each and every one of them could be pretty intimidating in their own way. Murder, madness, deception, the Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn and Cassandra Cain had a lot they could brag about. They usually (most, but not a hundred percent of the time) only used their skills to tantalize the bad guys in Gotham (except for maybe Harley who enjoyed tormenting anyone she could choose on a whim). However, besides playful banter and harmless enough competition, the group of women never directly attacked each other in any way (not _recently_ at least). That’s not to say they couldn’t be slightly terrified of each other every once in a while. 

A good example of this situation was the scene playing right in front of Huntress and Black Canary.

Renee Montoya was standing by the threshold of the back door of the warehouse the three of them had chosen as headquarters. Also known as the place where they trained, made plans, crashed after a long day of fighting, and often found Harley or Cassandra had broken in.

“You two need to get your shit together,” Montoya demanded, hands on her hips and authoritative voice on point. “We are supposed to be a _team_ , and work together. Whatever shit you two were playing today could’ve got us three _killed_ and obviously the mission to be a failure.”

In front of her, Huntress was taking her words with a blank face and a stiff posture, almost a picture-perfect soldier. Black Canary rolled her eyes, bit her lips, looked away. She didn’t sign-up for this. She didn’t agree with being scolded like a child. But the fact that Renee was most likely right…

“Now,” Renee continued, “I’m going all the way to the other side of the city to deal with… legal matters, like a mature adult, are you familiar with the concept? No? Well, I want you two to stay here until you learn what that means, alright?”

Not waiting for an answer, the retired officer slammed the door behind her, and left Huntress and Black Canary alone with each other and the troubling memories of their previous mission. It had been an ambitious plan, to begin with. They had a perfectly planned ambush on a notably dangerous group of hitmen that were being a real pain in the ass for Gotham. They had been outnumbered at first, but the Birds Of Prey quickly took down most of their targets.

The real issues that Renee had been talking about only started when they had been fighting pretty much one-on-one with the bad guys who, admittedly, were experts at what they were doing. Something had changed then, something had gone undoubtedly wrong. Huntress had strayed from their plan and tried to take down Dinah’s target too, resulting in the two of them somehow dealing with three guys simultaneously. While they usually worked together more than well, at that moment the two women had been way off sync with each other. They had been impulsive and reckless. The final result was still standing at the closed door of their headquarters, a really pissed off Dinah Lance and a considerably wounded Helena Bertinelli. 

“Mature adult, huh?” Dinah scoffed, “as if she wasn’t purposely going to a faraway office to avoid yet another ex-girlfriend that works nearby.”

Her comment earns her a chuckle from Helena. It’s one of those unstoppable laughs that just keep escaping from the usually irritable woman no matter how hard she tries to muffle them or disguise them in a cough. The laughs keep slipping, as if the trained killer was slowly but surely discovering how to be more… human. Dinah would be lying if she said she hadn’t been purposefully trying to induce more of those little chuckles. However, she had been ill-prepared to deal with the side-effects, and now as if she had been trained for it, every time she even remotely heard the ghost of a laugh from Helena, she was immediately turning toward her with a smile.

This time wasn’t the exception. Dinah turned her head to her teammate and, why not say it, _friend_ , and smiled. Helena dared to meet her eyes. Her brow was a little furrowed in worry, her shoulders were hunched and her sincere eyes were apologetic. She suddenly reminded Dinah of a puppy who had done something bad. This, of course, reminded her of exactly what that bad thing had been and her expression immediately shifted to anger. Dinah’s anger was significantly less explosive than hers, Helena had learned, but it still burned painfully, and Helena hated more than anything to be on the receiving end of it.

“What the fuck, Helena?!” Dinah exclaimed, as a general way to address their entire situation. “Just go sit over there, okay? And stay fucking still.”

The Huntress silently obeyed and sat down on the couch that the other woman had pointed at. She struggled a little. Her back hurt, maybe her ribs, definitely her arms, also her legs were tired. Everything hurt a little and blood was coming from more than one or two cuts scattered around her entire body. Before she could think of something to say, Dinah came back and hastily dropped their pretty large first aid kit on the coffee table in front of the couch Helena was sitting on, then she sat down herself on the table, right in front of Helena, their knees nearly touching.

“So, are you going to explain yourself?” Dinah asked. Her voice was still tense. She got to work pulling things out of the first aid kit.

“I don’t know why you’re so _fucking_ upset! I helped you.”

Helena’s voice did that thing where it rose to an angry yell but by the second sentence she lowered her voice to a normal range. She was trying to control her speech. She was _trying_.

“Shut up!” Dina hissed.

Helena attempted to throw a response at her, but she soon found out that Dinah’s orders were literal, and a second later there was a sharp sting on her lip. She took a sharp intake of breath, but then she acted as if it was almost nothing. Dinah could tell it hurt. First of all, because she had been on the other side of these ministrations countless times. Also because Helena could try but her eyes were still beautiful little traitors that always showed their real emotions to Dinah. Right now, those eyes were blinking back the first tears of the shock of the pain. However, Dinah had learned that Helena would refuse to show how much anything hurt her (physically, yes; but also things more complicated than that, her heartbreaking past included).

“Tell me if it hurts too much,” Dinah sighed, half annoyed still with her stubborn teammate, half worried about Helena’s denial to acknowledge she’s hurt.

Helena nodded in agreement, but nothing else. Except that when Dinah moved to tend to another bruise on her face, she basically growled, “I _was_ helping you.”

Dinah mostly ignored the comment. She was busy making sure that all the wounds on Helena’s face were superficial and doing what she had to do to help them heal quicker. Her task included looking very closely into those beautiful features in front of her. Dinah wasn’t complaining. Her fingers trailed Helena’s jawline, and when she pressed a little too hard on a place where Helena had received a pretty nasty punch from one of the bad guys, the Huntress winced.

“I’m sorry,” Dinah whispered. Helena bit her lip to distract the pain, but her lip hurt too. “Hey, stop that,” Dinah said, but it was in a different voice than when she had ordered her to sit down and stay still. It was much softer. Accompanying her words, Dinah’s thumb lightly touched Helena’s lip, effectively getting her teeth to release it so she wouldn’t hurt herself. Dinah knew that afterward, she technically _should_ have pulled her hand away, but accidentally or not, her tender touch to Helena’s bottom lip lasted longer than planned. It was Helena’s shaky exhale the thing that brought her back from whatever daze she was in.

“Can I leave now?” Helena asked then in the steadiest voice she could manage, which wasn’t a lot really.

The fact that she was starting to blush noticeably and that she made no actual movement to stand up, could be read a sign that she needed to see say something, anything. Dinah shook her head though, “Not until you tell me why you decided to fuck up our mission today. I had it under control, I do not need help, you didn’t stick to the plan!” she said. She realized her anger toward Helena had subsided a little, but she had to keep pushing.

“I didn’t fuck anything up!” Helena retorted, “I helped you, we killed them, it was fine!”

Undisturbed by her teammate’s constant defensiveness, Dinah shook her head once more and extended a hand. Helena, distracted by the way Dinah’s hair moved when she shook her head, didn’t know what to do. “Give me your hands,” Dinah asked.

“Why?”

“Because, like an idiot, you pushed yourself too hard today. You’re knuckles are bleeding, baby.”

Helena flinched again, but this time she hadn’t even been touched. “ _Baby_ ,” the word was too loud in her head, even if Dinah's voice had been soft. Helena’s brain immediately went into overdrive. Was that an accusation? Calling her a baby? Should she fight? Maybe it was a term of endearment, she knew about those, of course, she just wasn’t familiarized with them. What should she do now? What even was going on?

Dinah had grown tired of waiting and gently grabbed Helena’s hands from her lap. She did notice the other woman’s wide-eyed look and quickly spreading blush, but she was feeling a little merciful today, only because she knew that taking care of those cuts would hurt like a bitch.

Slowly, Dinah started taking off the leather gloves that covered most of Helena’s hands. They were torn and it was evident the blood underneath.

“Careful,” Helena complained in a little voice that was almost a whine and that Dinah found more endearing than she should.

“I’m trying… can I cut them?”

“No!”

Finally, the gloves were off both Helena’s hands, it already felt a little better. Helena stretched her fingers a little, it hurt. Dinah grinned proudly and holding both of Helena’s hands in hers she said, “See? We’re making progress.” Then, in a movement that Helena, trained to anticipate an attacker’s move like a machine, could have never seen coming, Dinah lifted their hands and tilted her head down, placing a tender kiss in Helena’s hands.

The simple act shook Helena to her core, this time she really gasped. The sound was small but there was only so much mercy Dinah could have. She couldn’t restrain herself from teasing Helena this time. “Are you okay over there? Do we need to check your heart too? Call an ambulance?” she chuckled. 

Helena only managed to shake her head, but she knew it was impossible for her to figure out something to say, so she didn’t even try. To make up for nearly giving the other woman a heart attack, Dinah got back to work. She cleaned the dried blood, tended to the cuts and the bruises on Helena's knuckles. She worked patiently and steadily.

She didn’t love the fact that Helena was hurt, quite the opposite, but she wasn’t complaining about getting a chance to study her teammate closer than ever. Helena’s hands were strong, they had to be. All the fighting and the years of training made her knuckles a little worn down, but the inside of her hands, the fingertips, they were surprisingly soft. Dinah found herself enjoying the feel of holding Helena’s hands. She smiled involuntarily. She tried to think of any other occasion when they might have held hands, for any reason. Pulling themselves up from the ground during a fight was a common occurrence. Then, she tried to think of any other possible situations in which she could hold Helena’s hands again, she couldn’t think of any. She wondered briefly if Helena would let hold her hand if she simply were to just ask.

“All done here,” Dinah said with satisfaction. She had been looking affectionately at Helena’s hands, holding them still in each of her own hands. She looked up then, and found that for the first time Helena wasn’t startled by the eye contact.

Helena had been staring at Dinah already. She loved to stare at Black Canary, that wasn’t new, but she was used to seeing her fight, she had seen her sing, and as they started working together she had seen her doing a whole new world of little things. She had seen Dinah make breakfast, she had seen Dinah drive. She had seen her laugh while watching Tv, and have fun just drinking and chatting with their other friends. But this was new. Seeing her this closely, so focused on something, working with so much care and tenderness.

Helena’s heart felt like it would come out of her chest, but this time the pressure was so much so that it was starting to feel a little numb, like she unexpectedly could bare with it. So, she did. She managed to hold eye contact with Dinah for seconds that stretched forever, she managed a thankful smile, she begged her body to cooperate and she managed to squeeze Dinah’s hands in hers, intertwine her fingers and hold on.

A sigh escaped Dinah’s lips, she was starting to feel troubled, on the edge of something important. She looked down at their interlocked hands and smiled as well. “You little idiot, why did you mess up today? You’re not the impulsive kind. What happened?” Dinah’s voice was soft, a little amused, genuinely curious. Helena, on the other hand, was far from amused. Her face immediately changed. She groaned and leaned back on the couch, her hands immediately missing the contact with Dinah.

“Fine,” Dinah grumbled, she could act just as annoyed, “If you want to act like a big fucking baby, fine. Now take off your jacket.” The order deeply confused Helena. She raised an eyebrow in question, looking a little bit like a deer caught in the highlights. “You heard me!” Dinah insisted. “I can see you’re hiding most of the damage and we need to deal with that shit. They kicked your ass today.”

“ _They did not!_ ”

Helena’s yell was expected. Dinah didn’t flinch, she only chuckled, which made Helena all the more angry. The Huntress then yanked the jacket off her body, as if to prove a point. A point that she immediately regretted, because as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Dinah was right. The leather jacket was torn in many places and the fabric rubbed against the wounds in her arms and torso, making her grit her teeth to mask the pain.

Dinah noticed, she always did. She couldn’t help but ask, “You do know you don’t have to have to hide your pain from us… from _me_? Do you?” she asked.

It was unexpected for Helena to see that Dinah was serious in her question. She wasn’t teasing, she wasn’t angry. She was genuinely trying to get Helena to understand something. Helena shook her head, the movement so small it was barely noticeable, but something clicked at that moment. Perhaps she wouldn’t change her behavior, not any time soon. But maybe Dinah’s message found a place in Helena’s mind, maybe she understood.

“Your guy had a knife,” Helena blurted out unexpectedly.

“What?” Dinah said. Her comment caught Dinah off guard. A lot about this situation had Dinah feeling out of her comfort zone so this time, more for her own sake than for Helena, she didn’t hold eye contact, and she just started working on one of the several wounds on Helena’s arms.

“Your target,” Helena explained, “he had a second knife you were unaware of, and I could tell he was going for it. He had a moment of advantage and if he pulled out the knife, you wouldn’t have stood a chance…”

Did that mean that every time they’re in the middle of a fight, Huntress keeps an eye on her, just in case? That makes sense, Dinah told herself, as a team that fights together, obviously. But there was also something else here, just as obvious. It was strange too, Dinah thought, to hear Helena’s voice grow quieter and quieter until it turned into a whisper that drifted off at the last words. She was accustomed to hearing Huntress get defensive, yell at people, react explosively and unable to talk at a normal tone instead of a shout. Black Canary was used to that, but this, she had no idea what to do with this.

“He did?” she asked, because she had no idea what else to say. 

“Yes,” Helena replied. She was silent for a moment, but the rest of the words she had been trying so hard to keep locked in then escaped her lips without any warning. “I just finished a mission to avenge the people I loved that I lost. I was all alone then, and I didn’t know what I’d do next. But I recently discovered I had a new mission. Protecting a new group of people that I… care about. Making sure I don’t lose you in the first place, so I don’t have to get revenge. I don’t know… I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. You deserve better.”

After Helena was done talking, the silence in the room was absolute. It was Dinah’s turn to bite her lip to get ahold of her emotions. She didn’t think she’s ever heard Huntress talk that much at once, and so confidently, so sincerely. She felt helpless against an onslaught of feelings that she had most definitely underestimated in their strength. “ _Helena_ ,” she whispered at last, it was all she could say.

“Yes?” Huntress whispered right back at her.

When Dinah looked up again, she found she didn’t know what to say. “This might hurt a little,” was the only thing she managed to get out.

“What?” Helena asked, her response came immediately when Dinah suddenly tightened a bandage around her bicep, (coincidentally, a body part that of hers that had Dinah a little obsessed with). “Fuck!” Helena shouted.

Dinah smiled, the sight in front of her reminded her of a panther. but she knew that in a second she could turn into a timid black cat.

“ _Why?!_ ” Helena demanded.

The question sounded incredibly funny to Dinah. She laughed, and then shrugged, “That’s what you get when you try to fight more bad guys than you can take.” The playful comment made Helena groan at the constant teasing and lower her head in defeat. Dinah found her reaction equal parts amusing and endearing, but after giving it a bit more thought, she added, “That’s a lie though. You clearly were capable to kick all their asses, and you did it damn well. We both made it out alive. I appreciate it… _thank you_.” After a pause, letting the words sink in, she added, “I would also appreciate it if you try to… stay alive? I kind of don’t want to lose you either. I think I like having you in my life. You in all your deadly and adorable glory.”

It was Helena’s turn to end up speechless. “ _Dinah_ ,” she pleaded, for what? she didn’t really know. Except that she did but one, she didn’t think she was capable of saying it out loud, and two, her mind was too overwhelmed for her usual overthinking.

The pair were back to being a little too close to each other. Huntress, sitting on the couch, elbows on her knees and leaning forward, her short hair a mess but she looked much better than when they first arrived. Black Canary, pretty much in the same position, sitting right across from her in the coffee table.

“What am I going to do with you?” Black Canary whispered.

Because she couldn’t help herself, she moved a hand to take a stray strand of hair away from Helena’s eyes, but she didn’t have the strength to pull back. Her fingers seemed to have a life of their own, and she started playing with Helena’s hair. Truth be told, she has had a thing for Huntress’s hair for a while now. It looked amazing on Helena, when it was messy during it a fight, when it was wet after a fight under the rain, when it was endearingly messy when Helena was just waking up after a nap at their headquarters, whenever really. Dinah had been just dying for a chance to run her hands through Helena’s hair. Seeing that her teammate was a very… socially awkward, constantly angry, generally defensive and ready to attack anybody who got too close, kind of person, she didn’t think she’d ever had the chance. But now that did, she didn’t want to stop.

She could see Huntress start to relax, the tension leaving her shoulders, her head leaning a little into Dinah’s touch.

“What do you mean?” Helena asked, her brows furrowing in confusion, which Dinah found absolutely adorable. She was genuinely confused, and the sensation of Dinah’s fingers playing with her hair didn’t help at all. Dinah’s fingers lightly scratching her scalp, Dinah’s fingers moving to the back of her head and slowly, almost unnoticeably pulling her closer.

“What do you want?” Dinah asked finally, because she didn’t want to keep dancing around the subject, but she also needed to be sure Huntress wanted it. Everyone else could say that it was pretty obvious Huntress wanted her, but for Dinah it wasn’t that simple. She was aware Helena was pretty inexperienced, so she needed her to make a definite move, to prove that she really wanted this, that she could ask for it, deal with it. Dinah wasn’t disappointed.

Helena was feeling something completely new. She was made in equal parts of social awkwardness and murderous abilities, but human after all that she was, her instincts had to kick in. In place of the awkwardness, she had the focus, the courage and passion in which she went into a fight, but instead of the usual deadly intentions, she could feel the pendulum inside her swing in a completely different direction. Even if she blushed so hard she felt she was burning, even if she was certain her heart was in the verge of stopping or exploding altogether, even if somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that she was so vulnerable at this moment that Dinah could easily kill her if she wanted to… Helena nodded her head, stared deeply into Dinah’s eyes, “I want you to kiss me,” she asked, almost a challenge, her voice quiet but steady.

Her confidence seemed to affect Dinah in a new way. She sighed, seemed to melt a little bit under Helena’s stare. She was used to Helena looking at her with anger in her eyes, with embarrassment, with a little bit of nothing. This stare however… those were the eyes of Huntress. This was closer to the way Helena looked at men before killing them. But at the same time entirely different, much better, and Dinah loved it.

“Yes,” Black Canary whispered breathlessly, unsure why she was saying anything at all.

She nodded quickly and leaned forward, meeting Helena halfway. Their lips met and they both closed their eyes. Helena’s lips were hesitant at first, but it wasn’t difficult, she realized quickly. Dinah’s lips were kind and persistent, gentle and earnest. In fact, Helena just decided, in the one corner of her mind that still worked remotely properly, that following Dinah’s lead, kissing her, being absolutely enraptured by her, was the easiest thing she had ever done. However, as much as she tried to ignore it, the pain made her flinch.

Dinah instantly pulled away, she looked a little terrified, which made Helena horrified. “What happened?!” they asked simultaneously, then chuckled at the confusion, until Dinah licked her lips and at the same time that she recognized the metallic taste of blood, she noticed the red spot on the other woman’s lip. She sighed in relief.

“I’m okay,” Helena insisted, a little desperate, thinking she had ruined her only chance.

Dinah laughed fondly at her, and although Helena had seen her friends laugh at her unusual personality countless times, this was new, a little different, it was good.

“No, babe, it’s okay,” Dinah managed to say, but then they were kissing again.

She wasn’t sure who started it, but she was thankful they were kissing again. Helena’s lips were perfect, and she had no other words to describe it. It must still hurt though, because after a moment Helena made a little sound like a groan. It was probably out of the discomfort caused by her busted lip, but it ignited sensations in Dinah that even though the haze in which she was, she understood they were in no condition to deal with yet. Once again, and as much as she didn’t want to, Dinah pulled away.

This time she placed the tips of her fingers against Helena’s lips. “Stop it,” she said, with a breathless chuckle, “I’m serious. We can kiss again later, when you’re feeling better and not literally bleeding, you know?”

“Really?” Helena asked. She looked adorably hopeful, but also more worn down and stressed than after long and dangerous physical fights with the worst criminals of Gotham.

Dinah was annoyed and a little excited at how strongly she felt about Helena at that moment. She’s so fucking endearing, she thought, I hate it. But she leaned in for one last peck at her new favorite pair of lips in the world.

“I promise,” she whispered, softly kissed Helena’s forehead, and then stood up, regaining some of her usual confidence in the blink of an eye, something Helena not only admired, but also was seriously attracted to, “now let’s get you to bed, you have to rest so you can really heal and get back in your gorgeous, kickass shape.”

Helena followed Dinah’s lead with a small smile in her lips that she couldn’t and didn’t want to erase. “Rest with me?” she requested softly on the way to her bedroom.

“Okay!” Dinah replied with a playful dramatic sigh. She made it sound like it would be a burden to her, but Helena was happy to realize that this time she understood the playful undertone.

Now it was just a matter of waiting until the next time she could kiss Black Canary.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it! Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think. I love comments and I'll reply to anything  
> I'm on tumblr @afterlaughy and i'm always ready to cry about how gay and beautiful these characters are  
> also if anyone is interested in ocean's 8, the haunting of hill house, or portrait of a lady on fire, i also have some stuff written about that!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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